This is not really a ship ask per se just the sokka/suki/mai/ty-lee polycule how do you think it would work? I think their dates are mix of sharp objects, sparring and sparkling conversation. The relationship equivalent of a heist movie (and I guess zukos at kiddie table or something. Guy in the polycule who is just there)

LMFAOOO zuko is like eric andre banging at the gates yelling LET ME INNNN but alas he lacks the spirit and charm to join. he doesn’t even really want to be a part of it either (beautiful women do not actually interest him), he just feels excluded and resentful because it’s unfair that sokka (his favorite special guy) is closer to mai and ty lee (his only peers he ever spoke to until he was 17 years of age) than he is, and also he just generally refuses to understand why suki gets nice things (ie, sokka) and he doesn’t. unfortunately he has just enough self-knowledge to acknowledge that it’s a flaw he possesses rather than projecting that resentment outwards, so he is kind of just sitting there pathetically. alas. many such cases.

as for the group dynamic itself, i think that sokka and suki are a concrete couple, and mai and ty lee are also a discrete coupling, but then suki and ty lee are also together, and occasionally suki and mai also hook up, and sometimes suki mai and ty lee are just a throuple, but then sometimes sokka is also involved, but he’s also usually off doing his own thing so he’s not as present, but don’t get it twisted, he IS there and he’s in this relationship. he’s in this relationship.

it starts because obviously sokka and suki are already a couple and madly in love, and then they befriend mai and ty lee once the war ends. ty lee of course being a kyoshi warrior, so suki ends up spending a lot of time with her showing her the ropes, and also learning chi-blocking from her. suki is obviously just smitten with ty lee almost immediately because she is so talented and beautiful and charming, but also resents ty lee for this fact because she is too proud to admit that ty lee is a better fighter and smarter than she is, but eventually is able to admit her feelings for ty lee much in the same way that she did with sokka.

so suki gets together with ty lee while they’re on kyoshi island together, and concurrently sokka and mai are getting closer in the fire nation babysitting zuko and they very quickly realize that they actually get along really well because they surprisingly have a lot in common and share a sense of humor and love being miserable little haters together. and even though they both hate being in the fire nation, their newfound friendship becomes a consistent source of joy for each of them, and toph included, they are basically inseparable. everyone kind of assumes they’re dating because they truly do spend every second of the day together, but they’re not. or well, it’s more complicated/weirder than that.

when sokka and mai go to visit suki and ty lee on kyoshi island, or suki and ty lee come back to the fire nation (whichever comes first), sokka is already aware that suki and ty lee have gotten together because suki told him about her feelings before she left and then wrote to him about all their developments as they were occurring. and sokka is supportive, but he also finds it kind of strange because he distinctly remembers ty lee as being someone who was constantly flirting with him, and he wonders how them sharing a girlfriend will change that dynamic. but it doesn’t really. ty lee continues to flirt with him. at first it actually makes him so uncomfortable that he thinks he’s gonna throw up, because he’s being besieged on all sides (ie, suki has joined in the incessant flirting, mai is kind of just sitting there wearing this inscrutable yet distinctly infuriating expression) but eventually he just adjusts to this group dynamic.

sokka and suki are actually the ones to get mai and ty lee to finally get their shit together though. suki persuades ty lee that mai has feelings for her while sokka persuades mai that ty lee has feelings for her. and they feel like very helpful samaritans of the world they are so proud of themselves when mai and ty lee finally do get together. they’ve been dancing around their feelings ever since the boiling rock and kept insisting that it “just isn’t the right time” because mai was figuring out her shit with zuko and ty lee was moving to kyoshi island and blah blah blah. but suki’s just like “ARGH I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!” and smushes their faces together basically.

as for mai and suki, they first bond over being evenly matched in pai sho. ty lee and sokka are both geniuses who win every game effortlessly, and suki and mai (who both pride themselves on being highly intelligent) get fed up with getting their asses kicked so they start their own pai sho tournament, no ty lees and sokkas allowed. (fyi: we do actually see them playing pai sho together in ba sing se in the finale, which I think is very cute.) pai sho can be a very erotic game depending on how you play it (iroh can attest to this) so mai and suki, as well as ty lee and sokka, greatly enjoy these battles of wit, and get closer as a result. (yet another reason why zuko isn’t invited into the polycule; he sucks at pai sho.)

all that said, I do think toph is also heavily involved in this group dynamic, albeit not romantically, but she’s obviously sokka’s best friend and also very important to mai, so she kind of just hangs around because sokka, mai, and toph are also just their own little trio. but when it is just the four of them, it is truly the four scariest nonbenders in the world participating in this vaguely polyamorous dyke squad telling the most fucked up jokes you have ever heard in your life and laughing their asses off, and they are all gorgeous gorgeous girls who seem highly threatening to anyone on the outside looking in, but are actually very silly and goofy and and dedicate way too much of their time to playing board games. beautiful dynamic I think

(also, just as a sidenote for anyone wondering about whether they’re lesbians or what, that reddit post about being “gay both ways” is sokka’s gender. to me)

[ID: Reddit post by rrien in the thread r/bisexual with the title “Anyone “gay both ways”?”

The body reads: “I used to know this he/they bi guy, who presented himself as a pretty androgynous trans dude.

When he dated guys, he was a man getting with a gay man. When he dated women, it was like a lesbian relationship. He was comfortable and perceived as a dude in gay male spaces, and was equally comfortable and perceived as a butch in lesbian spaces. I think about this a lot. Dude was playing 5D chess with gender.

Has anyone else encountered this? As someone who’s uncomfortable in hetero relationship dynamics and who strives for androgyny….I just think it’s neat.” /end ID]

The new “I Am Zuko” book implied that him and Mai met at Ember Island as kids and soon after became childhood sweethearts. What are your thoughts on this new canon Maiko crumb?

For easy reference, I found the page in question. And for posterity, here's the quote:

Something else I learned about was love. Azula's friend Mai and I had known each other as kids when my family vacationed at a beach house on Ember Island. My journey took me back to that island, and back to Mai.

It might be adding a few complications to the history we had before. Not that complications are bad!

The previous uncomplicated lore, as referenced directly in this quote, was that Mai had always been Azula's friend, and so we had all assumed that either Mai was a designated playmate for Azula or else they met at school. Either way, Zuko had to meet Mai through Azula, usually assumed to be a playdate visit of some kind. It's notable, though, that Mai was always said to be roughly a year older than Azula and Ty Lee both, so either Mai was one of the older kids in that class, or there were other circumstances that put Mai into their orbit.

Now, we could still keep that aspect prioritized if we want; Zuko could have met Mai because Azula brought her friend(s) along on an Ember Island vacation. However, I don't think that's what's being implied by this quote. "[We] had known each other as kids" doesn't seem to suggest a first meeting; it sounds more like an ongoing relationship. And if Mai is already Azula's friend, then Zuko's and Mai's interactions surely aren't going to just be limited to Ember Island. So the implication is that Zuko knew Mai this way before Azula got involved.

'The Beach' gives us flashbacks to Zuko's fond memories of the place (and here's where it gets awkward with this new info, as I'd expect Mai to be part of those flashbacks, despite the focus on his family), but the only ones we can confirm as taking place on Ember Island itself seem to show Zuko as a baby:

The others, showing an older Zuko, take place in some kind of thick grassy area that doesn't look like any parts of the island we were shown. So, maybe baby!Zuko and baby!Mai were tots when they met. Zuko is 1-2 years older than Mai, so we are talking babies babies, not fan-speak for someone younger than 17. Yet Zuko at least remembers these moments (if we take the flashbacks as his literal memories), so maybe we can't go by the art on that. Maybe it's metaphorical and his baby-ness is just to show his youth and innocence. But I doubt Mai would be old enough to remember such a thing. And maybe that's okay, since the "I Am Zuko" book is very obviously from his POV, so his memories are the only ones we can go by, anyway.

But, again, if we go by what's implied in the language of "[we] had known each other," they weren't just babies playing next to each other in the sand while barely old enough to comprehend each other's existence. They must have been older. But if that's the case, then where was Azula in all this? Well, Zuko is 2-3 years older than her and Mai is roughly a year older than her, so perhaps Azula was too young to be concerned about other kids at that point or otherwise not interested in being social.

So the implication of those 22 words I have spent six paragraphs and two pictures (so far) analyzing is that Zuko and Mai had a real childhood friendship which predates Azula's involvement. Zuko has 'priority' in the matter of Mai over his sister, which ties neatly to who Mai eventually sides with his over Azula.

But does that undermine the existing narrative? That Mai, at the Boiling Rock, performed this great romantic act of courage and defied her dangerous master for this boy who taught her the power of hope again? If she was always truly Zuko's friend, does that make her act weaker?

I don't think so, myself.

I think it fits neatly with the idea of Azula competing with Zuko at every available opportunity, as influenced by their father and Fire Nation culture. Azula eventually saw something Zuko had -- a friend -- and decided to take it from him. Either Zuko didn't put up a fight or lost that battle. And Azula proceeded to lord her victory over him by having his former friend trailing behind her like a servant. Even when Mai and Zuko started a romance, Azula continued to maintain control, as shown off by the picnic scene where she orders Mai away with a veiled command and gets secret side-eye from Mai in return.

It's a handy little way to explain Zuko's own lack of visible friends. Maybe he didn't bother trying to make such connections with other people after Azula stole one of his first friends. It's also a convenient little excuse for how Azula pulled in a girl about a year older into her friend circle; they don't need to be in the same classes at the academy because Azula already knew Mai through Zuko.

And Mai clearly gave in to this little conflict between Zuko and Azula, so her later showing the courage to stand with Zuko at the critical moment still has the power of a good character arc. I don't think it makes her arc stronger, but neither do I think it weakens it. It just adds a little more texture, which of course is always welcome to shippers and fanfic-writers.

It does raise the question, though, of why Zuko had to meet Mai on Ember Island when she lives across the street from him. But it's not anything insurmountable, as her family is clearly depicted as on the rise when we're first introduced to them in 'Return to Omashu,' so perhaps they were rich enough to visit Ember Island but didn't yet live near the palace or even in the Caldera. Perhaps their arrival in the capital, and Mai entering the Academy, is what prompted Azula to make her move and steal Zuko's friend. If Mai spent the formative years of her childhood elsewhere, it would explain a little more why she was so bored that she taught herself throw knives. Azula tends to make lives interesting, I would think.

So there we go. One page in a Little Golden Book gave us all those thoughts. Not a bad investment.

However, I doubt we'll see any further explanation or acknowledgement of any of this in official fiction. From the quotes we've gotten, the Avatar Studios folk and especially The Mike and The Bryan seem to favor a loose continuity that isn't getting hung up on the details.

But this is certainly something us fans can run with. I'm already brainstorming ideas for some way to make use of this in a comedic fanfic. ;)

ngl i hate it when people act like mai and ty lee were slaves, they were genuinely friends with azula, its just complicated because Azula tries to be a ruthless and detached military commander over a friend, she has to prioritize the war to please her father/nation in the line of duty yes she intimidated ty lee into joining but I feel like people ignore the cultural context, you cant refuse military service from officials in a feudal world, Azula demonstrated her power & status to remind Ty lee who's in charge- she came there for serious business. The world is bigger than her little circus, this is about serving the nation. She really should've talked it out as a friend, but azula has been groomed by war doctrine/rhetoric her whole life so she used fear to gain control of the situation and ensure loyalty. Its the only reliable way she knows. Azula lacks trust in people. She puts on a coldhearted mask to show none vulnerability & weakness. Azula didnt want to undermine her own authority so she had to let ty lee know that she isnt asking. It wasnt the right thing to do but Ty lee did enjoy herself with Azula, she had fun fighting and it gave her recognition she craved. Helping the princess in conquest made her special. She even gave her own ideas in the drill episode. Mai straight up willingly joined because she got bored of her empty noble life. Azula pretty much liberated her and gave everything she could want, but Mai was resentful that she is only free on Azula's terms, she doesn't like to be controlled and is not afraid of Azula. Their team-up is based on mutual interests, but boiling rock tested this loyalty. Azula had a grudging respect for mai

Yeah, I hate this take too. You CAN make a case for Ty Lee though thanks to the circus incident. If she was afraid of Azula after that point, nobody could blame her. But Mai? That girl never showed a single instance that she was afraid of Azula.

I've read several Azulaang AUs where Aang gets Azula to open and master all of her chakras. Each with their own take on what's blocking them.

What do you think is blocking all of Azula's chakras? What's your take?

Well, I'm not a huge expert on chakras, but I can think of a few things that might be interfering with Azula's if you want to go that route. Course this is gonna take a little bit to go through each and every one of them, so get comfy.

Earth: This one should be fairly easy. This chakra deals with survival and is blocked by fear. Fear and Azula go together like bread and butter. Sure, many people think of Azula causing fear, but you also have to remember that Azula is terrified herself. Particularly of failure and the consequences of failure. Especially poignant since...well, the price of failure could possibly be maiming or even worse. A very real possibility with Ozai as your father. Hell, in the novelization of Sozin's Comet, we get this particular scene:

Overcoming and opening her Earth chakra means overcoming her fear of failure. Which would be difficult, but also a major step since that means overcoming Ozai's conditioning.

2. Water: Another fairly obvious one. This deals with pleasure and is blocked by guilt. People often accuse of Azula of having no guilt for a lot of things. Which in many ways isn't entirely inaccurate (I mean, you can't exactly feel guilty over something you do that for your entire life is told to be correct). However, we do get a good idea of what might be blocking this particular chakra in the mirror scene.

We see in this scene that Azula admits that she did treat Mai and Ty Lee poorly, but also said she didn't have any choice because...well, fear is the only reliable way in her mind. Hell, she wouldn't be reacting this way if she didn't have any guilt over the whole mess. Even though, again, when you grow up under Ozai's shadow, that screws up how you view the world. Coming to grips with how wrong her worldview is and forgiving herself for how bad things got with some of the only positive relationships in her life can help unblock this chakra.

3. Fire: Driven by willpower. Blocked by shame. Azula has a determination that puts a lot to others to shame. To be the best firebender, the perfect daughter, the embodiment of what the Fire Nation should be. And her success was driven by that will (and less luck as Zuko puts it), particularly with firebending and being able to bend blue fire.

Unfortunately, the shame of her humiliating defeat at Sozin's Comet probably shattered that willpower. And I could see it affecting her firebending if she's as shaken as she was in canon about what happened. Learning that her loss doesn't necessarily mean she's a failure and learning to fall in love with firebending outside of the context of combat and competitiveness to just firebending for firebending's sake, to appreciate the effort it takes to be so good can go a long way to unblock this chakra.

4. Air: Embodiment of love. Blocked by grief. Azula and love...yeesh. What a complicated history that one is. Azula is undeniably capable of love, and did have love for her family members. She wouldn't have hallucinated Ursa and been shaken by her rejection if that weren't the case. She did care about Zuko enough to bring him home with his honor intact while warning him about visiting Iroh. And her love for Ozai is undeniable.

And they all left in the end. Ursa neglected her. Zuko took everything from her (taking one of the few genuinely compassionate acts she did and throws it in her face). And Ozai abandoned her to the wolves. Not to mention her ruined relationship with Mai and Ty Lee, and she's more than wracked with grief. Again, she wouldn't have broken down if she didn't love them. That is the meaning of loss and grief.

5. Sound: Embodiment of truth. Blocked by lies.

...

Yeah that goes without saying that Azula is a knack liar. More importantly, even to herself. Azula's convinced herself that she's some irredeemable monster. That her only choice is to play with the cards given to her and embrace that notion of being a monster.

Thing is...she isn't. As proven before, she's NOT a monster. She is capable of showing compassion and love. Even if she's bad at showing it, she's not the callous, heartless demon she tries to present herself as. Unblocking this chakra means accepting that her lie is exactly that: a lie. And embracing the truth that she is indeed capable of so much more than what Ozai or herself have taught her to be.

6. Light: Embodies insight. Blocked by illusion. We've talked about lying before, but this particular one can also mean her regards to the Fire Nation in general. Azula, like so many others, was raised with the belief that the Fire Nation was the superior nation. That fire was the superior element, and that their way was justified.

But just like Azula's lie, the illusion is just an illusion. The Fire Nation isn't inherently better than the others, and their drive, their cause was built on the ego of the Fire Lords and a misguided attempt to bring about a world in their own image. If the previous chakras are about breaking down Azula's self image and her relationship to Ozai, then it sets the bedrock for unblocking this chakra and discovering just what the Fire Nation truly has done.

7. Thought: Embodies pure cosmic energy. Blocked by earthly ties. This one is...unique. The others are at least defined by something concrete. Pure cosmic energy is something that's a bit more abstract. Azula's earthly ties are easy. They're all the blockages that we've just mentioned and shaped her as a person. And we've just talked about how she can overcome them.

The final step would be to finally break ties from them. To accept that no, she's NOT defined by Ozai. She's NOT a monster. And she can be more than what Ozai or the previous Fire Lords had wanted her to be. This is the critical point. It's accepting that she can be good and do the right thing no matter where she came from. Thus, coming to terms with her past, and choosing to move on and forge a new future for herself. At least how I'd interpret this.

So...yeah. This is how I'd view Azula's chakras, what's blocking them, and what can be done to clear them. It'll take time, but I do believe she's capable of it. I mean, she has addressed some of the issues herself. Now it's a matter of capitalizing on what she's learned and putting them into practice.

Thanks for the ask, anon! This was actually a bit of fun. Maybe this can be a sort of roadmap for anyone interested in writing an Azula redemption fic or something.

What I’m trying to say is that I think there would always be tension between Zuko and Azula. But it doesn’t mean Zuko wouldn’t try to help her. And it doesn’t mean she’s incapable of caring for her brother.

Now this we can certainly be in full agreement about. Zuko doesn't try to help her in this story at all, like I've explained many times now, because he's absolutely stuck on a very toxic mindset that he refuses to break. It's a concept that I wanted to explore because of how often I've seen people reiterating that he's "allowed" to resent her and never forgive her and have nothing else to do with her.

I'm not even that harsh with Zuko in that story, I'd say (bet a bunch of you thought I'd have another Sokka-punch straight to Zuko's face if they came face-to-face in this one, huh? X'D), I refused to write him wanting her executed because, while certain fans HAVE said that, I don't think I want to write a Zuko who spirals to THAT extent. But of course, I wanted to show through the story what it means for some people, unlike yourself, to believe that Zuko can't possibly help her, that he shouldn't, that it's even unethical to expect him to do it, and just... why? Why would this be the hill you want to die on? Why would you want this traumatized boy to never learn to work through his trauma and never learn to see more than his own pain? It was a lot of pain, nobody needs to hide that... but for a character who's constantly touted for being such a symbol of empathy, it makes very little sense that some of those fans, the very ones who talk about him being all about empathy, would demand that he shows none towards his sister.

So... yeah. This particular AU is a rarity for me because I really don't want to explore Zuko in this direction. I mean, nothing good would come from it, either: if I went any further, he'd likely wind up losing everything if he keeps clinging to this mindset. One of the ironies of Zuko's behavior in this story is that, in clinging to resentment, he ends up effectively reversing the situation that led to Azula's breakdown in canon: first, Sokka picked Azula over Zuko. Then, Katara and Aang do it too. Toph, as well, by helping them when she does. Iroh did, too, by harboring Azula when he did. Slowly and surely, Zuko ends up resenting ALL these people he loved for not choosing to support him on his "Azula cannot be forgiven!" crusade, and he takes it as a betrayal, just as Mai and Ty Lee betrayed Azula for his sake. And if the fact that Zuko could spiral into a situation that mirrors Azula's breakdown doesn't feel like a massive red flag about this headcanon, I don't know what will. But I do believe that nobody who loves this guy should ever want him to wind up in a position like this one.

As for Azula, I absolutely agree, though I also believe that her way of caring about Zuko isn't what most people want it to be. I don't think Azula could ever become someone who coddles him and treats him reverently... but I do think she could look after him in tough-love sort of ways. I do think she could want to protect him if harm comes his way. Theirs would likely be a complicated relationship, I suppose... but I guess that's why people say that there's no set way to love a person. Love comes in many shapes and forms, and not everyone can love others the same way someone else does. I don't think Azula can love Zuko the way he wants to be loved by a sibling... just as I don't think Zuko can do that for Azula, either. But if they learn to accept each other, to truly understand one another, I do believe they could reach a level of respect and, who knows, even lowkey admiration for each other in the best of cases, and accept each other's care and affection in whatever form it comes, provided it's genuine, of course. As long as they learn to see each other with clearer eyes, I don't think their relationship could ever lose all hope. It could work... it just has to be done thoroughly, and the work to amend it NEEDS to come from both sides. Zuko making all the efforts for an unresponsive and ungrateful Azula would be just as unreasonable as Azula making all the efforts for an unresponsive and ungrateful Zuko. So, provided they both grow up a lot, individually, I believe they can grow as siblings...

... Which is something I have been doing for them in a certain other massive AU in which I may or may not have written my most wholesome and positive version of their bond, unintentionally :'D

I do think that it's possible these two could learn to let go of the spite and resentment, to be honest. It can be done, provided that they're handled by writers who know how to guide the characters in the direction necessary to achieve that goal. And I say this because I feel like I've done it pretty organically in Gladiator, obviously some people might disagree, but I actually feel good about the place where I've taken their sibling bond there. So I don't think it's beyond the realm of possibilities for these two to heal. Their bond can be better, but it takes mutual understanding, then mutual forgiveness, to make sure they can become better siblings for each other. It would take time too, yes... but when you're talking to someone who's spent a decade writing a fic, being told that developing something like this "takes time" almost comes off as a joke to me. Of course it would: that's no reason not to put in the work to make it pay off if you want it to. Otherwise, I would have given up on Gladiator in like 20 chapters, upon realizing it was going to be my biggest venture in this fandom and that I wouldn't possibly know how much time it was going to take me to finish it :')

jet and azula both are manipulators and leaders, one uses fear the other love(?)

jet is all about liberation, azula about control

azula is a colonizer, jet is an anti-colonizer

okay... (for blog organization, in reference to this)

Jet & Azula are both manipulators & leaders. Notice how you used the term 'manipulator' there?

Merriam Webster under 'manipulate' okay - 'to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means, especially to one's own advantage.'

Look, I love Jet because he's a bit of a flawed asshole - most of my faves are. Jet & Azula both 100% included. I often get bored with characters that are too perfect, fiction is about conflict. Jet is a manipulator & can be cold & calculating, just like Azula, but for different reasons.

It's not a condemnation, it's part of his character. Jet uses his charisma & good looks to trick Katara into being part of a plan she would never have agreed to. Sure, when confronted with someone who doesn't like Jet I'll jump on the "Jet's never done anything wrong in his life actually" train because I love him & want to defend him & I DO think his behavior in the context of the war is sympathetic. But also, in terms of honestly analyzing his character, he's morally gray & far from a saint. Jet has a lot of anger & a tendency to try & solve his problems with violence. This is part of what makes him a compelling character, denying it is boring.

While I DO understand your argument about Azula being a colonizer & part of the nation responsible for Jet's trauma, by that logic Zuko, Mai & Ty Lee also should've never become friends with the gaang. Maybe you feel they shouldn't have, I don't know your full opinion, but if that's the case we're losing a common thread of where to connect because Zuko's redemption arc & eventual befriending of the gaang is pretty core to the narrative of the entire show. Not saying it was 100% perfectly written, but it is a core aspect of the story.

Avatar as a story is big on forgiveness & healing & capacity to change. To an extent, I understand why some fans are frustrated by the sympathy given to characters like the fire siblings. I actually strongly agree that Jet should have been portrayed more sympathetically by the narrative & that he deserves healing & forgiveness too. I just think (& this part is almost definitely about to get me cancelled by some people) that sometimes when the Fire Nation characters are so harshly condemned by a portion of the fandom that even the idea of someone traumatized by the war reconciling with any of them is abhorrent, we're losing the thread of the fantasy world & the narrative of the story. Zuko & Aang learning to work together is a huge part of the story & Aang is the last survivor of a genocide committed by the Fire Nation. Zuko rejects Fire Nation ideology & his father's ways (there are no comics in Ba Sing Se ok) & learns to be a kinder person working toward a new age of peace.

Why shouldn't Azula be given that same chance?

Anyway, Azula & Jet's complicated dynamic is, can't emphasize this enough, part of why I love them. You're exactly correct. Azula is a colonizer & imperialist & Jet is an anti colonizer & a rebel fighter. He has a pessimistic view of the war effort overall & a violent hatred for the Fire Nation. Azula has an unfavorable view of people she considers below her & considers the Fire Nation perfect. In canon, could they ever reconcile? Post-war, I think perhaps if Azula learned to change her ways like her brother did. I tend to write alternate universes but these two would still have vastly differing opinions & it would lead to conflict. In every fic with a focus on their dynamic that I've ever written, they have a rather contentious friendship with a lot of arguments. Because that kind of dynamic is interesting & fun to me.

TLDR: Sure, & this would create conflict but also pretending Jet is morally pure isn't true to his character either & also I just think Azula & Jet have a lot of similarities that would make it interesting to see them interact

Love it when people say Azula pushed people away who cared about her, the thing is there were never people shown who cared about her in the series, it was never shown that she pushed someone away either. So stop calling bs and find a actual reason to blame Azula for things she actually did.

Also plz tell us a little about mai and ty lee reactions to the whole modulus situation

Mai and Ty Lee's entire deal is a bit complicated in modulus. I really do think that the three of them were honestly friends as kids, that they were happy initially to see each other after however long when Azula had to conscript them. Because it was conscription and things started to go wrong when Ty Lee misread that and thought she could say no to her friend.

That this was the first sign that something had changed in the time Mai and Ty Lee were away. (And Azula was alone to face Ozai.)

So this is a friendship that slowly got strangled until it all fell apart. And then two months after the end of the war that's lasted their entire lives, Azula escapes (not in the best health either) and eventually, they have to assume she's dead.

Considering the state of the Fire Nation post-war, with severe economic recession that's inevitable when the industry a country's entire economy is based upon disappears overnight (that being war), and a massive influx of suddenly-unemployed young men conditioned towards aggression and with little other immediate skills, numerous PR disasters, and a questionable record for its untested teenage ruler with the formal education level of a 7th grader...yeah, the best case scenario they can think of is that Azula might have been lucky enough to have died from exposure somewhere.

(As opposed to starvation, illness, food riots, other riots, other crime, or the worst possible case in their minds, someone recognizing her and deciding to take their anger at Ozai or Zuko out on her.)

All of this is to say that Mai and Ty Lee took Azula's presumed death hard, but reacted in different ways. Mai takes it with a quiet grief. She's angry and bitter about Boiling Rock, but not that Azula imprisoned her. Mai is very aware that she was committing high treason in that moment, and knew that the usual punishment for that is death. Azula letting them live was a mercy she didn't expect.

What Mai is most angry and heartbroken about still is that they were forced into that position in the first place. Mai understands the position Azula was in then, especially after years with the power that comes from being married to the Fire Lord. She understands the choices Azula made and why she might have made them, even if she might not have made the same ones.

So Mai is seeing the 10 year anniversary of Azula's disappearance, which is also the day she can legally be declared dead by Fire Nation law for missing persons, with a certain kind of grief and dread.

Ty Lee is even more complicated. I'm gonna be honest, I'm considering something that's...kinda mean to Ty Lee. See, she takes Azula's "death" hard.

And then this isn't helped when some of the Kyoshi Warriors want, well, stories. Just to get to know her. So Ty Lee tells them, even the ones about the war. And maybe a detail gets fudged somewhere, to make the Warriors like or accept her a bit easier. Downplay how much she was involved in some of the things she did with Azula.

And this grows. Slowly, at first. The good times get talked about less and less. The small annoyances get bigger and the dickishness between friends turns into viscous cruelty. Ty Lee doesn't even notice really that she's been making her friendship with Azula seem less and less important, but her new friends have the image of the cruel and viscous princess who forced a fearful girl into a twisted parody of "friendship".

Pretty soon, Ty Lee's got "memories" of events that didn't happen or didn't happen that way. And these are comforting lies, because it's easier to accept the death of a kind of terrible person, even if they were young, than it is to accept the death of an estranged/ ex-friend who probably needed help and you weren't even there to try.

What do you think about the ATLA Comics portrayals of Azula's friendships, or lack thereof, with first Mai & Ty Lee & then later on with The Fire Warriors (The Fake Kemurikage)? Also, as a person with mental health issues, how do you feel about the demonization & villainization of mentally ill people in the comics? For it never sat well in my soul that the biggest threat to The Gaang/Zuko's regime post-war was a terrorist cell made up of abused mental asylum inmates who met inside their asylum.

The easiest way to sum up that shit show:

The writers completely ignored/retconned 90% of what made the show and the characters themselves interesting: the complexity.

Just like Ursa had her backstory (and a big part of her personality) completely, Mai and Ty Lee's feelings about Azula went from a deeply complicated mix of love, genuine admiration, respect, fear, resentment and even hatred, to just pure, boring "This bitch is crazy and we're afraid". This happened for the same reason: the writers were uncomfortable with the concept that NO ONE is born a monster, not even "the bad guys".

And why was Azula treated as completely equal, if not worse, than her father, despite still being a teenager while he was a grown man that should have known better? Azula bias, of course! On this case, the writers qualify to the category of "The ableist fucker". Azula stopped being a character to them the second she started hallucinating.

In their minds, she was born "crazy", and crazy = evil/broken beyond repair. They can't understand how anyone could have any positive feelings towards someone "like her" (aka someone with a mental illness), and so they "corrected" that by having her be friends with other people who were "beyond saving". Even the few moments in which they recognize that Azula was someone else's victim, like having her mother apologize for not having loved her enough, feel gross because the writers keep acting like it was some inevitable tragedy - one that was caused by Azula's mental illness, and therefore, in their eyes, "her own fault". They can't see that this was the fault of the adults in her life (Ozai for abusing/grooming her, Ursa and Iroh for blaming her for it) and completely preventable. For fuck's sake, even the way she was drawn was meant to make her look unhinged and scary, and the characters were constantly physically assaulting her to "defend themselves" while she was literally doing nothing because the writers think just being in the same room as someone who is mentally ill is somehow a threat to "the sane ones"

As a fan who cares about these characters (not just Azula despite her being my favorite) and as someone who doesn't like it when writers talk down to their audience, this shit makes me angry.

As someone who is mentally ill, I unfortunately already expected this. Long before I realized the comics were shit. Because this shit is so common, that I'm just numb to it at this point. The sad reality is that in media in general, mentally ill and disabled people can only be viewed in four, equally awful ways

1 - The monster/threat

2 - The burden (aka the character that irritates and causes trouble for "the normal ones")

3 - The Idiot Savant (same as the previous one, but is kept around because of some ability they have that "compensates" the others characters)

4 - The eternal victim (exists solely to suffer, and that's somehow "inspiring" and a "lesson to us all")

Why It Is Bad That We Never See Mai or Ty Lee in the Comics Deal With Their Imperialist Past

How come we never see Mai or Ty Lee deal with their imperialist past in the comics? For yeah comics!Azula is a horrible person and it is implied that Azula was never friends with Mai & Ty Lee, who where coerced subjects trying to keep their mad sovereigns (Azulon, Ozai, & Azula) happy. But I find it odd that neither no one in-universe or the narrative challenges them for their past. Like Zuko, Iroh, Piandao, Jeong Jeong, and Chey all had to confront their imperialist past before redeeming themselves despite having as good an argument, if not better, that they were being coerced or faced life threatening consequences if they didn’t comply. So what makes Mai or Ty Lee different any different? And before people say they went to prison, it was for committing treason against the Fire Nation/attacking their Princess; not for realizing the error of their ways and wanting to change.

Though in Ty Lee’s case she did say she did join the Kyoshi Warriors in order to fix a broken world in the Sisters comic so maybe Ty Lee did confront her past. But I wish we saw her time in prison so we saw her change considering she enthusiastically fought against the Kyoshi Warriors & The Gaang and mocked the Kyoshi Warriors’ style, not knowing or caring for the reason behind their makeup or dress.

However comics!Mai really hasn’t really done anything…in fact she kept from Zuko and The Gaang the fact that her father was leading the New Ozai Society until Zuko almost got killed (and was only saved by PIS and a last minute unexpected heel-face turn) and The Fire Warriors were able to kidnap around a dozen kids, including Mai’s own brother and Azula/Zuko’s half sister. And even more galling, when confronted for her treason, she has the gall tell an understandably angry Zuko that he of all people should understand how hard it is to betray your father. As if there wasn’t a difference between betraying the all powerful ruler of your country who has a cult of personality, has burned you before, can quickly fire off lethal amounts of lighting on command, and has said before he wanted to kill you versus betraying your mentally and physically weak father who rejected being integrated into the new government and seeks to put someone back in power who would likely kill you for committing treason against him.

On a sidenote, isn’t crazy that Zuko then quickly apologized and the story never brought up the topic of Mai’s treason ever again?

But getting back on track, are we being unreasonable in asking that Mai and Ty Lee confront their past or if they already did, that we actually see it on page/screen? Especially since the message sent by them not doing so is that if you turn at almost the last point possible, the people you have wronged repeatedly and the world community will instantly forgive you despite constantly engaging in imperialism (ex. fighting against the rebels in Omashu, jailing and impersonating The Kyoshi Warriors), let alone helping commit one of the biggest acts of imperialism in history (helping Azula take over Ba Sing Se)?

Also on a sidenote, I do have an on-going series where I post my thoughts on the Avatar series (this is where this post came from) so feel free to read the rest of them and comment on them.

-----------

I absolutely agree, Anon. I also think Avatar does have a huge problem with putting people into "boxes", like the Good Guys: Zuko, Aang, Katara, Iroh, Ty Lee, Mai, Ursa, even Azulon somehow who can NEVER do or ever did anything wrong (even tho anyone with even a piece of a critical mind knows they did and are flawed human beings) and the Bad Guys: Azula, Zhao, Ozai who are entirely bad and never did anything right and are basically souless emotionless demons.

"it is implied that Azula was never friends with Mai & Ty Lee"

Tbh I feel like this point was a retcon. In the show we see Azula genuinely likes them (hugging Ty Lee, apologising to her, setting Mai up with Zuko, playing with them as kids, being genuinely hurt when they betray her) and I'd be strongly tempted to say they did too. That might just be my interpretation but I feel like Mai really was awfully bored in Omashu and she was happy Azula came to give her something to do. Same for Ty Lee, she looked happy when Azula came at the circus (before she started threatening her), and when they were playing as kids. And I don't think her constant compliments were 100% genuine, of course, she's smarter than this, but I don't believe she was completely lying to her either.

Imo, they were friends, it was just so much complicated by Azula being their commander, war, and living in an imperialistic nation.

The comics (and the last episode of the show too) don't care about that, of course. The narrative they propose is just "Mai and Ty Lee always hated and feared Azula, they had to do everything she told them and so they never have to face any consequences" even tho we know Zuko, who was actually in that situation, had to face consequences for his.

Also, Mai is a perfect New Ozai Society supporter if I've ever seen one. I'm gonna start headcanoning her as a legit villain who consciously manipulated her way to avoid consequences for her actions thanks to being the Firelord's gf and her "treason", it's fun.

«The message sent is that if you turn at almost the last point possible, the people you have wronged repeatedly will instantly forgive you.»

Preach it! Ironically enough, last-minute traitors are often forgiven injustly in real-life wars even tho they might be objectively terrible people, but I don't think the comics writers were aiming to explore this particular subject xD

Just Sleep

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/wdl6jtB

by BlueEyedArcher

Detective Hakoda Itsarmiu is faced with a complicated case the likes of which Omashu City Police Department has never seen before. What began as the mysterious disappearance of two children, Zuko and Azula Miyajima has led to a string of murders across the city with a series of cryptic messages at each crime scene seemingly mocking the detective's attempts to catch the killer in a race against the clock before the next pair of bodies that they find are the siblings themselves.

As the body count rises, Hakoda must trust his instincts and his son with the hopes that with Sokka's help, they could track down Zuko, but as the days go by and evidence stacks up, they cannot shake this eerie feeling that this case is related to the cold case from years earlier involving the sudden disappearance of Ursa Miyajima. Is the killer coming to finish a job, or send a message that hits home a little too hard? What sort of trouble has Ozai started for his family? Will they reach the kids in time or will their efforts end in vain for the Miyajima siblings?

Words: 4139, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Categories: M/M

Characters: Zuko (Avatar), Sokka (Avatar), Jee (Avatar), Hakoda (Avatar), Arnook (Avatar), Azula (Avatar), Ozai (Avatar), Azulon (Avatar), Zhao (Avatar), Iroh (Avatar), Lu Ten, Bato (Avatar), Katara (Avatar), Aang (Avatar), Toph Beifong, Suki (Avatar), Yue (Avatar), Piandao (Avatar), General Fong (Avatar), Shinu (Avatar), How (Avatar), Bumi (Avatar), Jeong Jeong (Avatar), Gyatso (Avatar), Yagoda (Avatar), Pakku (Avatar), Kanna (Avatar), Hama (Avatar), Li and Lo (Avatar), Song (Last Airbender), Song's Mother (Avatar), Ty Lee (Avatar), Mai (Avatar)

Relationships: Bato/Hakoda (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar)

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Bending (Avatar TV), Crimes & Criminals, Crime Scenes, Murder, Child Abuse, Child Murder, Suicide Attempt, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Strangulation, Alternate Universe - Detectives, Murder Mystery, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Heavy Angst, Depression, Grief/Mourning, this one is going to HURT, Protective Sokka (Avatar), Parental Hakoda (Avatar), Good Parent Hakoda (Avatar), Iroh is a Good Uncle (Avatar), Lu Ten Lives (Avatar), Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Gay Zuko (Avatar), Azula Needs a Hug (Avatar), Azula and Zuko Have a Good Relationship (Avatar), Protective Zuko (Avatar), Suspense

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/wdl6jtB

You’re right, it is very annoying how some people (usually a certain brand of Zukka shippers) insist that Zuko HAS to be gay and Toph HAS to be a lesbian.

I mean we all know that the only reason that they think Zuko HAS to be gay is so that people won’t ship him with women instead of with Sokka.

I also find that a lot of Zukkas will insist that Mai, Ty Lee, Toph, and sometimes even Suki and/or Yue all HAVE to be lesbians. You know what all of those girls have in common? They all canonically dated or expressed romantic interest in Zuko or Sokka. Connect the dots.

Obviously not everyone who has those headcanons is like that. People can and should be allowed to headcanon characters however they want. Personally I view Zuko as bisexual and Toph as straight (none of the popular F/F Toph ships appeal to me and I generally find that portrayals of her as LGBT aren’t to my tastes because some - not all - people who headcanon her as such will often exaggerate her masculinity/androgyny far beyond the extent to which it exists in canon in order to make her the “man” in the relationship as well as ignore that the reasons for her gender nonconformity are heavily tied to her trauma and disability and have very little to do with sexuality, which is something that squicks me out. Also dislike how society at large seems to really hate the idea of GNC women being with men because that means they’ll be forced to reconsider their perception of gender roles within M/F relationships). However, those are just my interpretations.

"it is very annoying how some people (usually a certain brand of Zukka shippers) insist that Zuko HAS to be gay and Toph HAS to be a lesbian."

yes exactly! i'm all for people having their head canons, but there is no reason to shame others because they have a different one than you. it reeks of privilege because no head canon is more "right" than another. and also, why are we gatekeeping characters from having other lgbtq+ identities that other fans can identify with? seems very exclusionary to me.

i think the thing that bothers me about zookas is that they will take scenes like the jinko fountain scene and use it as "proof" that he's gay. bc zuko hesitated at first and also because he pulled away and ran away. like, there's so many other reasons for that, including the one that's actually, ya know, canon. zuko was nervous. it's his first teenaged date, so ofc he would be a bit awkward about it. not to mention that he is a decent enough person to not want to complicate a girl's feelings for him because she doesn't know the real him. he even says in the tale of the earth kingdom novelization that he likes this girl. and he says in canon that he had a nice time. that's not to say that people can't head canon what they want, but to say things like "there's no het explanation for this." there's literally several, actually.

another thing that i've seen is zookas use the "zuko gay" in response to zutaras, but then they'll also simultaneously ship m*iko. and it's just so obviously a bias/convenience thing because if you hc him as gay (which is fine), why would you like a ship of him with a woman??? just say you hate zutara and go.

back to toph, because i've been meaning to speak on this for a while. so toph is my favorite character and i head canon her as nonbinary and pansexual. it is actually partially through my appreciation of toph's character that i realized that i was nonbinary. so when certain people gatekeep and confine her to one identity because of stereotypical traits and behaviors, i take it very personal.

none of toph's popular F/F ships appeal to me either, but i do see her as LGBTQ+. i have to agree that the way she is masculinized does cause me significant discomfort, especially wrt to people who do so to limit her "desirability" for aang.

i also find that a lot of people will head canon aang as nonbinary or GNC (i do as well). so in the case of toph being lesbian, she could potentially still be attracted to aang. so why then, do people act like it would just be a het relationship? it doesn't make sense. they're both queer as fuck. not to mention that i've had to endure months on twitter with people saying that kateeng is wlw (which gives me the HIVES) because aang is nonbinary. so suddenly, when it's taang, aang's a straight man and/or toph would have to be straight. these people talk themselves into circles i swear. it's just easier to admit that you want aang only for katara than to sit here and come up with flimsy excuses.

i wish people would just admit that they don't think toph is feminine enough for aang. i've seen so many shitty takes about how toph would be abusive to aang and always hurt him, or that they would argue a lot (which is comical because kateeng canonically has 3 big fights.) it's just upsetting how toph is treated and perceived by certain people in the fandom to push their agendas.

for me personally, i see aang and toph as nonbinary pan. so i see their relationship pretty much free of gender roles and they are equals. they already have a good foundation for childhood friends to lovers. i just don't get why people hate taang so much and would instead rather invest time in a ship with a side character from ONE comic (no offense to any tophl*ngs out there, but the ship literally gives me not one fuzzy feeling.) in lieu of her best friend that she spends two seasons with, has multiple interactions with in the comics, etc. i feel like this is mainly because toph isn't perceived as "shippable" and is cast to the side, which sucks because she's my favorite character.

so when confronting his father, Zuko makes the choice to redirect the lightning at his feet, rather than into the wall. How do you think thing's would have gone different for the rest of the series if he'd accidentally killed his old man here?

Well, it hinges on two things:

Does Zuko stick around to try to claim the throne, or does he run away because he figures he can't get away with murder in this case?

How does Azula react to Ozai's death?

The first will determine how the plot goes, either about antics and politics in the Fire Nation capital or with a focus on the gAang trying to evade a more concerted hunt. Since this series is named "Avatar: The Last Airbender," I would find a way to go with the latter, so I'd come up with a way to have Zuko flee as a fugitive just like in the cartoon. The time has come, by that point, to get him on the side of the protagonists and consolidate the cast.

The second is going to determine the nature and the tone of the finale. With Azula as the sole antagonist left (with Mai and Ty Lee, but I think their defection is still mandatory for Azula's arc), the entire rest of the cast needs to confront her. Since DoBS already had fights in the capital, I'd find a way to still have her attempt the destruction of the Earth Kingdom and be confronted in the process. However, all the main characters (Aang, Zuko, and Katara) teaming up on Azula is a bit much, considering that Zuko alone is supposed to be her equal by that point.

And I've never been sure how Azula should respond to having Ozai taken away from her. He's the center of her world, the measure by which she judges everything- herself most of all. I've only ever played with it in fanfic in much more complicated circumstances, so I'm genuinely not sure what she would think of learning that Zuko simply beat him in a straight attack. Would she lash out? Become self-destructive? Lose her grip on reality? All of the above?

I'd also want to conform to the themes of the show, so Aang needs to defeat imperialism with the ideals of his people and also show the Fire Nation's nature literally lead to its own defeat and destruction. (There's a reason the capital was wrecked in the duel between Zuko and Azula. Symbolism, ho!) This is quite a checklist. The cartoon had two villains to work with, so we need to create some more.

So I think we need to bring in some help for Azula. Instead of having her try to burn the whole Earth Kingdom (however that was supposed to work), I think she should create some kind of a spirit threat. Perhaps an evil dragon ghost kaiju of some kind. That can rampage across the EK for Aang to fight and transform into a nice peaceful happy-dragon spirit, and Zuko can confront Azula in a similar manner to the cartoon's finale.

Whatever happens with Azula's psyche, I don't think her final defeat should be a simple defeat and breakdown. I feel like the loss of Ozai is already enough of a loss for her, however she reacts, that losing a fight to Zuko kind of pales in comparison. I'd actually have him somehow save her in the end, with a hint of a little hope that it might be the beginning of her seeing things differently. I still like the idea of Katara helping Zuko in the fight, and Zuko somehow taking a hit for her, since that so neatly reverses his actions under Ba Sing Se.

It probably seems cheap that I'm looking for ways to so closely replicate what we got in the cartoon, but honestly I think that's because Ozai himself is only important to the story as a symbol of Fire Nation Imperialism and for his effect on Zuko and Azula. Even in-universe, his death just means one of his kids gets a promotion. There's no real political complications, no change in the Fire Nation's agenda. The big thing is going to be the effect on Azula, I think, and so the main change is going to be how her character arc goes.

As far as the effect on Zuko, I actually think it can be neatly incorporated into the story. Have the reason he loses his Firebending be his sense of guilt over killing his father, and then he has to wrestle with why he feels guilty at all. It can be part of the plot of 'The Firebending Masters,' and Aang can simultaneously get over his guilt over burning Katara.

Book Fire's resilience is proven, I think, by the fact that it spends most of itself on character-building stories, and the plot is rather minimalist. And Ozai just ain't critical to much.

I just saw your reblog of the “Zuko and Sokka are rivals ... in tennis” post (which I love and agree with btw) and it made me wonder. What sports/physical activities do u think the Gaang would enjoy? I was on a competitive jump rope team as a kid and I really think Azula would be into it.

katara loves all and any sport, because she excels at all of them. she’s especially good at ice hockey and competitive swimming, but she also loves soccer, specifically kicking azula’s legs out from under her and making her slam into the grass, which she always claims was an accident. katara has an entire wall that is just a shelf decorated to gold sports trophies. that said, she is morally opposed to both golf and football, which is complicated because she is also morally opposed to the ableist institution that denies toph from being allowed to play football. katara thinks that toph should play football if she wants to, but also that football should be banned. it’s complicated.

aang loves basketball and laser tag (which sokka claims is not a sport) and modern dance. he goes to all of katara’s games without fail, and katara shows up to all of his dance recitals with increasingly more exotic bouquets. at this point aang’s windowsill is covered in succulents, all gifts from katara.

sokka really likes baseball and softball to the point where he claims that they are two different sports. they are, because you have to take into account the weight of the ball and the bat when assessing the field. he is so good at baseball it’s scary, but since none of his friends give a shit about baseball, they do not find this remotely impressive. he also has a morbid fascination with cheeserolling.

zuko is frightened by most sports, not because he’s bad at them, but because he finds the uniforms tacky and the culture surrounding sports to be coarse and overloud (his words). the closest he’s ever come to appreciating a sport is fencing, but even then he finds the stupid little outfit horribly offensive. he spends every gym class running away from the ball and trying his hardest not to participate. but, on some days, his rage will take over, and he ends up taking it out on whatever sport they’re playing that day and he’s a fucking beast and he decimates everyone. it’s honestly quite concerning.

toph really wants to play soccer and football and basically any sport where you get to kick people and barrel past them, but the grown-ups won’t let her because they’re a bunch of doodooheads. she and katara petition to let toph join the soccer team and even though they get a bunch of signatures (you don’t say no to katara and toph) the administration still won’t let her join. toph and katara start a wrestling club instead, and aang joins out of solidarity, and then everyone else joins because they love aang. it’s all perfectly legal and above-board, so the administration can’t disband it. take that, you ableist fuckers.

suki is captain of the soccer team and the softball team and the basketball team and also the roller derby team, and she’s usually the one in charge of bringing snacks to toph and katara’s wrestling club. she also knows like twelve different martial arts and teaches self defense classes to young girls. she is also, embarrassingly, really into cricket.

azula loves any sport that allows her to take her rage out on others. she is like zuko in this regard, only she is consistently full of rage, and thus the consequent verve. she excels at soccer, basketball, tennis, golf (which katara loathes her for), cricket (which suki begrudgingly respects), softball (but she’s not as good as sokka and this fact haunts her every moment), rugby, volleyball, dodgeball, competitive jump-roping, lacrosse, ballet, gymnastics, kickboxing, and every martial art you could name. she doesn’t swim or play hockey, though, because deep down she knows she would lose to katara and she doesn’t know how to handle that.

ty lee is really good at gymnastics, cheerleading, martial arts, basketball, and softball. it’s scary how good she is. toph keeps trying to get her to join wrestling club, but it conflicts with pai sho club, which both ty lee and sokka agree is far more important than toph and katara’s little wrestling thing. sorry :/

mai does not play sports. sports are stupid. unless said sport involves knives, in which case mai is there and she’s ready. she’s way too good at those dumb carnival games, and ty lee’s room is filled with gigantic stuffed animals because of it.

iroh claims pai sho is a sport. it is not.

Hi my dear! Any headcanons on if teenage Izumi had a rebellious phase, and how Mai/Zuko dealt with that?

In my mind, Izumi’s main struggle as she enters her teens would be a desire for independence (as with most youth). Mai & Zuko love & support her, but because of what they went through as teens, they want to protect her from pain & suffering and allow her to be a kid for as long as possible. This sometimes causes friction because Izumi, who is a part of a generation born when there is no war, doesn’t understand their side. She instead believes that they underestimate her and/or don’t trust her to take care of herself. Things are complicated by the fact that Izumi also has a tendency to hide her personal struggles from her parents so as not to worry them. 

To work off one of my other teenage Izumi headcanons, the friction culminates when Izumi asks for a solo trip to the desert for her sixteenth birthday in hopes of finding Wan Shi Tong’s library. Zuko and Mai (who have never been but heard all about it from the Gaang) understandably think it’s a dangerous idea and tell her only if they can both go with her. Izumi (who might be a LITTLE overconfident, let’s not lie) refuses, saying she doesn’t need them to protect her anymore. That night, she sneaks out...but as her adventure continues, Izumi keeps “running into” her aunts/uncles (Aang, Katara, Sokka, Suki, Toph, and Ty Lee). She quickly realizes her parents have enlisted all of their friends to watch over her. Frustrated, she ends up engaging in a lot of risky behavior to prove herself, eventually coming to not only miss her parents but also realize how much of their own pain & suffering they have hidden from her. When she is at her lowest point and feeling hopeless, she is rescued at the last moment by two Blue Spirits--who turn out to be Mai & Zuko in disguise!!!

In the end, Mai & Zuko admit to being somewhat overprotective, and promise to be more open with her about their pasts. Izumi promises to be more honest about her own feelings. They make a pact as a family to treat future disagreements on a case-by-case basis: Izumi may be able to handle some dangerous situations after all (and Mai & Zuko have to realize they can't protect her from everything), but Izumi needs to learn her limits and be okay with asking them for help sometimes. 

Whenever I see a fanfic where Ty Lee or Mai says that Azula was their best friend, it’s sort of break my engagement. Like I guess I can sort of see Ty Lee (if I stretch my mind), but overall I mainly see Azula being an abuser for the two in the past. To me it would would make more sense that they would never what to be friends with Azula (at least if Azula have some post-redemption arc they could maybe view her as an ally, but that’s it). I dunno. Am I being too closed-minded? What’s your take?

I'm of two minds about this. I have experience being abused by a "best friend", and for me, it's been really difficult to find terminology for the experience. I'll call it an abusive friendship, but what does that mean? If a friendship is a purely voluntary association of mutual affection, well this was a relationship of fear, control, and coersion. But at the same time, she filled the role of "best friend" that we have constructed in society for school age girls. It was that level of intimacy, and our relationship had certain socially constructed expectations on it. This was why when I was first coming to terms with it as a fourteen year old, I described it as "like an abusive marriage".

But abusive friendships sort of leave you in a position where your abuser was both your "best friend", and also not your friend. So in short, I could be persuaded of Mai and Ty Lee seeing Azula in those terms.

But ultimately this is not how I ever see this used. Like you, when I see it, it's almost always in the context of how much they love her, how much affection they feel for her, how either their friendship was totally a normal friendship between girls that didn't have anything dark or abusive about it at all, and they were a girl gang and it was so cool, or they're friends, so no matter how much Azula hurt them, they all still welcome her back, with the implication of course that if they don't that's because they're bad terrible friends, and Azula doesn't deserve to be treated that way.

It's not the terminology for me, but yeah absolutely the attitude is a major turnoff for me, and part of the reason why I am very leery to read fanfic with the three of them in it. I have a hard time with a lot of the fan works in this fandom because implicit in them is the assumption that Azula didn't horribly victimize Mai and Ty Lee.

Also a lot of people don't seem to understand that even if Azula has a redemption arc, and changes how she interacts with other people, and becomes a healthier and less destructive version of herself, Mai and Ty Lee might not want anything to do with her, and if they did, that might not be healthy for them. A lot of people have a very hard time with the idea that somebody can change, and the people they hurt before that change can still want nothing to do with them, and this doesn't mean they doubt the sincerity of the change necessarily, but that they are allowed to feel like, it's great you're no longer being horrible, but go be not horrible over there, away from me. They really see the point of a character going through a redemption arc as them earning forgiveness, and through forgiveness a renewal of their past relationships (something that is complicated in the case of Azula with Mai and Ty Lee, because there was no pre-existing good relationship, since as we can see Azula was abusive to the two of them from the beginning of their relationship as little girls), which isn't how it works and doesn't have to be how it works in fiction.